Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Blue Ridge from Home

The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference begins May 9th. So many of my writer friends are going that my emails, Facebook and Twitter feeds buzz with all the preparations.

I AM SO JEALOUS!!!

(And yes, that was me yelling).

OK.

I'm better now.

I am.

And I have a plan.

Just because I can't go, doesn't mean I can't use my time wisely. So for my friends who, like me, will be hanging out at home this year, I offer you my Blue Ridge from Home Conference Schedule. Feel free to modify it for your own use.

The week before: Purchase a new outfit and get a pedicure . . . priorities people!

Monday - Go for a drive. It takes me approximately two hours to get to Ridgecrest. As tempted as I will be to drive up there, I will instead drive to my local Starbucks and purchase my favorite writing beverage - a tall, decaf four pump mocha.

In case you don't know, that's a mocha with EXTRA chocolate. I'm going to be down in the dumps and in Lynn's Logic, chocolate makes everything better. Therefore, extra chocolate makes things extra better.

Tuesday - Focus on Fiction. I write fiction. I love fiction. So I'll spend some time perusing the writing advice available on the websites and blogs of the faculty members.

Tuesday night - Watch a comedy. Vonda Skelton will be speaking at Blue Ridge and the schedule says it's Faculty Talent Night. Everyone will be laughing. Might as well join in the fun.

Wednesday - Focus on Nonfiction. Same as Tuesday except specifically searching out the faculty members who are teaching non-fiction classes.

Thursday - Submit something. Now this one is tricky for me. I'm a little busy these days. But I think by the time Blue Ridge rolls around, I could have a devotion or two ready to submit for publication. (Famous last words).

Thursday night - Go out to eat. The banquet will be Thursday night. If I'm going to be in the spirit of things, I think this is an important step!

Friday - Focus on Social Networking. Everyone will be saying their goodbyes, sharing business cards and promising to keep in touch. So I'll be sending friend requests and following more writers on Twitter and adding more blogs to my blogroll. And I'll be sure to update my own blog!

Now, as is true for all conference schedules, this schedule is subject to change. I'd love to hear your suggestions for ways to attend BRMCWC from home.

Anyone care to join me? It's not too late to sign up!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

My Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

Hyp-o-crite:
1. A person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion.
2. A person who acts in opposition to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

I am a hypocrite.

I’ll give you a few examples.
  • I’ve been known to shop at the health food store . . . and then run through a McDonald’s drive-thru—and not to order a salad.
  • I’ve been known to set up a budget . . . and then ignore it for, um, well, a while.
  • I’ve been known to snap at my husband . . . on the way into church . . . hmm . . . ok . . . that one just happened this week. Let’s move on.
  • I’ve been known to yell at the pokey driver in front of me . . . on my way to Bible study.
  • I have been known to blog about something . . . and then live my life in direct contradiction to what I’ve written.
It’s very frustrating.

And it’s been very obvious in my spirit in the past few weeks. You see, the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference is fast approaching and many of my writer friends are planning to go.

I feel left out.

Many of them have had great success in the past year. Agents have been obtained, articles have been published, books have won awards.

For others. Not for me.

I can’t seem to stop the feeling that hits the pit of my stomach each time a fellow writer passes a milestone I have yet to reach. Can’t shake the sense that I’ve been given a taste of something delicious and now have to watch others enjoy the feast.

My “good Christian girl” side knows that this is an issue of trust. She knows that God is sovereign. She knows that God’s timing is perfect and that His purposes and plans will prevail. She knows that whatever God wants for her is for her ultimate good and His ultimate glory. She has blogged about this very thing here and here.

You know what the “much more irreverent” side of me says to that?


Yeah, yeah, whatever.


I’ve been rather ticked off about the whole thing. I’ve fumed and fussed and thrown quite the spiritual temper tantrum.

God probably should’ve knocked a knot on my head for my behavior. I’m still not sure why He hasn’t. Maybe He’s cutting me some slack considering that I haven’t slept through the night in almost eight weeks. Maybe He recognizes that the current “shower of blessing” I’m under has come very close to drowning me and I’m just now keeping my head above water—most days.

Maybe Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and quietly intercedes, “She’s mine. I died for her.”

I am a hypocrite.

But I’m a saved hypocrite. I’m a loved hypocrite.

I’m a forgiven hypocrite.

Psalm 32:1, 2 and 5 - Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit…I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (ESV)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Who has the time?

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately.

That's because it's tricky to type while holding a six week old.

Not that it can't be done.

I'm doing it right now!

God has been up to all sorts of interesting things in the past six months. The results of which are fabulous. And the method . . . well, let's just say that God doesn't do things the way I would.

I, for example, don't recommend having a baby, moving into a new house and listing your old house, all within a few weeks.

Not that it can't be done.

I'm doing it right now!

I'm also trusting that God's timing for this massive transition is perfect for everyone, including me.

And I'm looking forward to getting back to my "normal" schedule . . . just as soon as I figure out what that is!

In the meantime, my monthly book review is up over at The Write Conversation. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say Hi!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Sawdust

I love the smell of sawdust.

One whiff and I feel like a young girl standing in the barn, holding the end of a board while my Daddy cuts it with a Skilsaw. I’m transported to a safe place to talk, to spill my troubles, to ask questions, to get answers.

With each deep breath, I can remember the unique smell of my Pa’s flannel shirts - a combination of sawdust, gasoline and sweat. I’m transported to Friday evenings sitting beside him watching Knight Rider. Or riding on the back of a tractor down to the mailbox, giggling all the way.

To me, sawdust smells like hard work and childhood.

To me, sawdust smells like love.

I was thinking about this recently as I walked through our new home which, at that moment, was covered in sawdust. A new home which is clearly a part of God’s plan for my life, and which, as usual, has not unfolded in the way I expected.

God’s ways are unsearchable. He plans beyond our grasp. And sometimes, He feels so far above us, so far beyond us, as to be unknowable.

But He wants us to know Him.

As I walked down the stairs, leaving footprints in the sawdust, breathing in the delicious aroma, He spoke.

“I love the smell of sawdust, too.”

I froze on the stairs.

What?

God loves the smell of sawdust?

Really? And why would He take the time to tell me? What is He trying to reveal to me about who He is?

I’ve thought about it quite a bit over the past few weeks. Perhaps it reminds Him of long talks in a barn, holding the end of a board while Joseph made practiced cuts with a handsaw. Maybe He recalls childhood laughter with His siblings as they built towers and forts with the scraps left over from Joseph’s latest project.

Or maybe, there was a hint of sawdust in the air as He bore the cross, as the nails pierced His flesh, as He died for me.

Maybe, to Him, sawdust smells like love.

I John 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (ESV)

image courtesy of photobucket.com

Monday, February 21, 2011

Blown Away

This week, I'm bringing you a few thoughts on one of my favorite passages. This devotion is currently on my parent's church website and I'm shamelessly double posting in order to save a few brain cells as I prepare for the very soon arrival of our third child.

One of the first things you learn when you begin to study the craft of writing is that every word matters.

Every word.

There are no throw away words. Successful authors look at every word in their manuscript and if it isn’t important, it’s deleted. If it isn’t conveying the proper tone, it’s edited. If it’s weak, it’s strengthened.

In the end, the author is left with 85,000 (or so) important words. 85,000 words chosen with deliberate intent to convey the message the author desires to bring.

There are over 800,000 words in the Bible.
Written by 40 or so human authors.
Inspired by the one and only true God.

Even by non-believing human standards, God is a very successful author. His book remains the bestselling book of all time. It changes hearts and lives.

And there are no throw away words in the Bible. If the words are in there, they are important, chosen to convey the exact message God wanted us to hear.

Which brings us to Ephesians 3:19-20. These verses make me smile because at first glance, they appear to break a cardinal writing rule.

What rule?

Well, I didn’t know this until recently, but adverbs are frowned upon in writing circles. Because often they indicate laziness on the part of the writer.

But not always.

Sometimes, a good splash of adverbs is the only way to describe something. Sometimes, there are no verbs strong enough to convey the scope of a particular situation.

I think God knew we would struggle to grasp the expanse of His abilities.

So he painted a word picture.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us . . .

Exceeding—abundantly—above!

What happens in your mind and heart when you read those words?

The sheer extravagance of the description speaks to me of things beyond my grasp. Beyond anything I can imagine.

Sure, God could have inspired Paul to choose different words.

But He didn’t.

Because these are the exact words necessary to blow us away and straight to our knees as we finish the prayer with Paul.

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Every Moment Matters

As I write these words, I am missing two different appointments.

I’m supposed to be at my writers group meeting. I’m also supposed to be at a baby shower.

And yes, I do see the impossibility of being in two places at once, but that’s not the point of this post.

Instead of trying to find a way around the time-space continuum, I’m sitting on my couch, in my pajamas, surrounded by my children, also in their pajamas.

I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

More than a writer or friend, I am, first and foremost, a wife and mother. And my role as wife and mother has totally and completely overshadowed all other roles lately.

As in there has been little or no time for me to be anything else.

And I’m coming to see that this temporary situation is not the end of the world. And that it doesn’t make me less of a writer, or a friend, or a volunteer, or anything else.

It just means I have my priorities in order.

I’ve been chafing about all the things I haven’t done. The agents I haven’t queried, the rejections I haven’t received because of the submissions I haven’t made.

But in the past week or so—as I’ve been fighting the automatic negative thoughts (ANTS) that tell me I’m the World’s Greatest Slacker—I keep thinking about all the heroes of the faith who knew, without a doubt, that they’d been called to do something fabulous.

And then spent the next 20 to 40 years doing something seemingly unrelated.

Think David.

Think Joseph.

Even - ready for it - Jesus.

Imagine. He spent thirty years just being human. Thirty years of reining in His power. Thirty years that we know almost nothing about.

But they were important. He didn’t experience everything we think and feel in the three years of His public ministry. He spent thirty years experiencing infancy, puberty and adulthood. He made friends, interacted with His siblings and worked in His earthly father’s shop. He watched as those He knew before the world began laughed, cried, lived, died.

And all of it—every moment—mattered.

I don't know where you find yourself today, but He does.

He's been there.

The three years of public ministry are the ones we know the most about. But the thirty years of preparation are what made these words possible...
 
Heb. 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)

It may be ten, twenty or thirty years before I have the wisdom to look back on this time and see how God was using these days to mold me into the person He has called me to be.

But I am confident that He is up to something big, even on a pajama day!

What about you? Do you have a time of waiting you've already come to see for the time of preparation it really was? Please share it in the comments!


image courtesy of photobucket.com

Thursday, February 3, 2011